Hi everyone – remember me?

Ok now that school is done I will be able to keep the posts updated more frequesntly so thank you for your continued support and checking up on Jeff.

Lots of changes have been happening. Last Friday I got the BEST news – I found out I am a registered nurse!!!!!!!!! Finally after 5 1/2 years I can actually sign my name “Julie Goodrich, RN”! So thankful the Lord helped me pass that test because it was brutal (5 hours).

After we found out the good news we were off to see the doctor because Jeff had been suffering from severe headaches and vision problems in his right eye (poor guy – totally hung in there while I was consumed with studying for my board exam- I felt so bad). I had been in touch with the doctor who kept prescribing different medication but unfortunately the pain meds either were not working or made him sick. So I finally told them I’m bringing him in because something is just not right. His eye was worse now and his symptoms were debilitating and not getting better.

He ended up being admitted on Friday 7/16 and he just got home on Wednesday 7/21. In a nut shell his right eye has damage to cranial nerve #3 which causes his eyelid to droop (stay closed actually), his pupil does not constrict, and his eye does not move to the left. The good news is all of the tests they ran at the hopsital were negative. They did another MRI (still no cancer growth-great news), a CT scan (no bleeding), and a lumbar puncture to check for cancer cells in his cerebral spinal fluid (also negative). The headaches have gone away with morphine and steriods which in itself is a huge blessing.

Now we are left with tough decisions because it seems that his eye problems are caused from the chemo. BUT the chemo is keeping him alive. No one can tell us if his eye will get better because his symptoms have not benn seen before and there isn’t any published literature on his specific side effects.

We did have a consult at UCLA to check with their extensive neuro-oncology team last Wed, they just want a boat load of his records which I need to gather now so we can see what their plan would be and compare it to USC’s plan.

Please pray for complete healing for Jeff. I know the Lord WILL help us through this because He is a faithful God and we continue to put our trust in Him and love Him.

Kayla and Natalie are doing great – we have such awesome daughters – they make our job so incredibly easy. Kayla decided on her own to take summer school for 8 weeks to get geometry out of the way so she can go to a higher math level which looks great for college. Natalie is doing excellent at beach volleybal. She has my height and Jeff’s athletic ability (thank goodness!), and loves doing puzzles.

As for me, I’m looking for a job. These days there are not many opportunities for new grads  because there are so many of us now. I know God will put me where He wants me, when He wants me there (although it would be great to be bringing in some money about now!)

Jeff and I just  want to thank you for caring and supporting us, knowing you are reading this truly helps Jeffs spirits.

XO Julie